


Gold Dust

by Calesvol



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-06 19:23:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14063820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calesvol/pseuds/Calesvol
Summary: Ignis feels a tremendous clout of guilt after losing his sight, that he won't be enough for Noctis anymore. Noctis thinks otherwise.





	Gold Dust

Warning(s): G, mentions of body mutilation

 

* * *

 

Things came with prices. It was the way of the world, where the good suffered under the tyranny of the unjust. At the ends of fairy tale, no one died. No one lost fundamental parts of themselves, but they did change. For such tales were for children and weren’t meant to be taken beyond anyone’s formative years except for interrupted, thorough cleanings of rooms that saw one sit for hours reading them and forgetting why they were there at all.

 

Sometimes he could still remember those days. When Noctis had been turned out into an apartment, working a part-time job and going to an ordinary school. Going to and from it, the arcade with Prompto, and studying between bouts of ennui when staring at the ceiling for hours was all he could bring himself to do. Or, what felt like hours. Guilt always sat on his chest with claws and sticky fingers, poking holes in his mind and memories and saying it was his fault Ignis looked so grim whenever he came over.

 

Even if it wasn’t truth, it became a hounding presence after so long.

 

Those nights saw him awake, not so different from this.

 

The Leville was dark. So dark. The city had drowned in his sleep and there was no distinction between ruination and the lapping waters that had boiled it to the depths of hell. Noctis wasn’t sure if he was awake, but emergency generators manifested as an endless drone like the low pitch of summer locusts. Their phones, plugged into a single socket, offered some light. But as the denizens were desperate to save resources in this hour of need, so would they. As Noctis wouldn’t be responsible for more loss, slight as this.

 

He couldn’t sleep. Noctis ruminated on it, the dark, and suddenly shot up in bed. Gladio rolled over his an arm across Prompto’s undisturbed chest, ruptured by a snore. Ignis—usually the one to bunk next to him—wasn’t there. A shot of anxiety struck Noctis and he bolted from the bed as quietly as he could, careful not to trip over any of their baggage, little as it was.

 

Noctis didn’t have to look far when he saw a distinct silhouette at the end of the hall picking his way down the stairs, the ginger clacking of his cane evidence alone he was still struggling to acclimate to it. The prince’s heart clenched in his chest, stopping almost short until he drifted towards the landing at the top of the spiraling stair and waited until Ignis had made his descent and did so safely. He wouldn’t wish to spook his dearest friend, still agonized by what seemed such a herculean effort.

 

He couldn’t take it. He tried.

 

Following after him, Noctis slipped his arms around Ignis’ waist—which would’ve spooked him were he not familiar with whose they belonged to—and pulled him gently so their forms molded together. “Noct, I’m sorry, did I wake you…?” Ignis asked softly, automatically—fondly and it still made Noctis’ heart hurt.

 

“I’m worried about you, Iggy,” Noctis replied in turn, voice so soft it was almost muffled for a moment. He rubbed his thumbs on Ignis’ abdomen, an unconscious yet comforting gesture. Ignis grew silent, but slowly turned in Noctis’ arms and ranged his head some, eyes staring half at the ground and half at his chest, following his voice. He hadn’t seen them this close yet. The scars, the haziness that had taken his sole good eye. Even so, it was blind, and Ignis wouldn’t be getting his sight back.

 

_Failure_ , his heart taunted him. _You’re a failure_ , his mind elaborated.

 

“Noct, you should...get some rest. We’ve a long today tomorrow—“ Noctis shook his head, gritting his teeth.

 

“Screw that! I don’t care about that right now! I care about you!” His voice resonated too loudly in the silence. It made Ignis flinch, apprehensive. “...Sorry. But I just—I wanna help you. Somehow.”

 

This was his friend, his beloved friend. Where it’d be inappropriate before, he’d nearly lost Noctis. He’d nearly lost his entire world. Their foreheads bumped together after Ignis had tried to do so unsuccessfully the first few times, then managing it with a faintly frustrated sigh. But it tapered off into a sadder sound that made Noctis’ heart clench.

 

“I was so afraid I’d have lost you, Noct. The Maralith attack, Tenebrae—each time it happens I felt my heart climbing into my throat, feeling a pain more agonizing than anything. And since the start of this journey, there’s been so many times I felt as though I truly had lost you. You’re my world, Noct—and this,” Ignis nodded once, indicating his lost sight, “I fear I will lose you because I cannot protect you as I did. My sight—it made me who I am. Without it, I...”

 

Noctis felt his throat close when he heard this confession, that Ignis somehow thought himself... _useless_ without his eyes. But, he knew that wasn’t true. A hand rose to cup Ignis’ cheek, biting the inside of his own. “You’re what, Igs? Useless?” When Ignis said nothing, Noctis bit his lip bitterly. Their foreheads touched and Noctis hugged him around his waist tighter. “I don’t know when we started being prince and chamberlain, Iggy. I really don’t. But...I see you as my friend. I always have. And I’m not gonna abandon you for anything, okay? Just...don’t leave me. I need you.”

 

Breaking wasn’t always so terrible. It wasn’t always shattering glass. Sometimes, it was soft as silk, shedding as crystalline tears from misty eyes that only needed to hear something so simple. Ignis embraced his arms around Noctis’ neck, burying his face into his hair and letting his shoulders shake with sobs. It’s what he needed to hear. It’s what he needed to hear more than anything.

 

_Even if his heart ached and craved for the courage to say three words he knew could make their entire world collapse._


End file.
